Ripon Common Council Discusses Possibility Of Wheel Tax
26 June 2019 News
It’s just in the preliminary stages, but the Ripon Common Council Monday night discussed the possibility of using a wheel tax to pay for some the city’s future street improvement projects. City Attorney Lud Wirtz talked about attending a Wisconsin League of Municipalities meeting where wheel taxes were discussed in some depth. He says the easiest would be one that Appleton is currently using that adds $20 to the registration fee you pay the state for your vehicle. The state would collect that money and send it back to the city. City Administrator Lori Rich told the Council the wheel tax would be for cars, light trucks, and trucks weighing less than 8,000 pounds. She says there are 6,940 vehicles in the city that fall into those categories, which would raise about $137,000 a year for the city. Short of special assessments or a referendum it would be one way for the city to generate money for street projects, with funding getting tighter each year and costs going up. Council members felt residents should be educated about the issue before the Council makes any decisions about a wheel tax.
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